A Comparative Study of Composted Organic Wastes and IBDU Fertilizer in Nitrogen Utilization by Bentgrass Cultivars

This research project that was conducted to provide evidence that composted organic waste materials do provide comparable nitrogen absorption efficiency in relation to an organic slow release fertilizer. Western's compost facility supplied the two different organic wastes, which had been composted for 1 year. The materials used were composted urban leaf litter, sawdust/manure mixture at a 50/50 ratio by volume and an organic fertilizer IBDU. These materials were applied to one cultivars of (Agrostis capillaries) and three cultivars of (A. palustris) at the rate of .S^/IOOO**2 in the months of April, June, and September. The plots were sampled one month after application to evaluate the nitrogen concentration of the leaf and thatch material. The nitrogen concentration was measured by using a Leco 2000 CHN provided in the Dept. of Chemistry. In comparison of N recovery in leaves, "Exeter" had lower N concentration than the other cultivars in October and no difference in May and July of the first year. The leaf concentration for the second year showed that Penncross and L-93 were lower in May and were the same for the other two sample dates. There was no difference found in the N concentration of thatch among the fertilizer sources for both years. IBDU showed better N recovery in all but the last sample date where all treatments were the same.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Agriculture

Year

2001

Author dc:creator

• Mathews, David

• Agriculture
• Agronomy and Crop Sciences

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/675

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.wku.edu:theses-1678